"Please accept my sincere apologies and deep regret for any harm I have caused you. I ask your forgiveness and hope this apology will help to free you from the distress you have suffered because of my actions."

Fr Conniffe, who was once honoured by the Queen, goes on to apologise for his 'inappropriate involvement in your life' adding: "You reported my involvement with you as an abuse of power, both by my forceful personality and as a senior person in a role of trust and responsibility.

"I ask for your forgiveness for this and for my failure to live up to the demanding requirements of a priest's consecration and service."

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Fr Paul Addison, the senior priest in the Servite Order, also wrote to the woman - to apologise for the ways she 'had been wronged in sexual behaviour towards you as a teenager and young adult'. He said Fr Conniffe 'crossed boundaries continually in ways that are deemed seriously unacceptable'.

"I have no difficulty stating that this is something that should never have happened by an adult in a position of responsibility", Father Addison added.

Following the woman's complaint the to church the matter was referred to Greater Manchester Police. That triggered a year-long investigation, before it was concluded that the case didn't meet the threshold for prosecution.

The woman, now in her 50s, then instructed law firm Slater and Gordon to begin a civil action against the church. In December she agreed an out-of-court settlement.

She's now released the letters at the centre of the case to the M.E.N., because she wants to make sure 'no-one else is put at risk'.

She told the M.E.N. she first came into contact with Fr Conniffe when she was an 'impressionable' schoolgirl.

"He was very charismatic and personable. I was an impressionable teenager. I started going to see him for confession", she said.

"I really looked up to him. I thought he was a really charismatic priest. You could talk to him really easily."

Fr Conniffe's letter

She says Fr Conniffe's sexual behaviour towards her lasted for about 10 years and had a devastating impact on her life.

"When I was in my early 30s I started having flashbacks," she said.

"I became quite ill. I don't know if it was a breakdown, but I was very, very ill. I was under mental health services and started having psychotherapy. It lasted for about four and a half years and it really helped – it kind of put it to bed.

"But then I started having flashbacks again and went back into counselling. That was the trigger [for reporting what had happened].

"I wrote to the church and said I was reporting something I should have reported years ago."

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A letter outlining the recommendations, which has been seen by the M.E.N., states the church must 'take whatever action is necessary to restrict any future ministry undertaken by Fr PC such that he does not have unsupervised access to children or vulnerable adults'.

The letter, dated October 19, 2018, also recommends Fr Conniffe undertakes a 'specialist programme of therapeutic intervention' and is 'subject to a safeguarding plan'.

The M.E.N. has approached Fr Conniffe for comment through the Servite Order. He declined to comment, but the order issued a statement on his behalf.

In a statement the Servite Order said: "There is no place for abuse of any kind in the church and the order takes all allegations seriously.

"When the allegations came to light, the order and Fr Conniffe cooperated fully with a GMP police investigation.

"No charges were brought following that investigation.

"The order and Fr Conniffe have offered sincere and unreserved apology for all failures in standards that caused any distress or trauma.

"Fr Conniffe rejects any accusation of sexual assault.

"The order has agreed a personal injury settlement and support package in this case.

"We regret any failure to live up to appropriate standards by our members, we always cooperate with the strict policies and norms for safeguarding now in force throughout the Catholic Church."

Richard Scorer, a specialist abuse lawyer at law firm Slater and Gordon, said: “This was an appalling abuse of position and power over a vulnerable young woman.

"This priest knew that his behaviour was utterly wrong and yet it continued for several years.

"His letter of apology fails to acknowledge the full extent of his actions and this only serves to show that he either won’t or does not fully understand their seriousness and the impact on my client who has to live with what he has done to her for the rest of her life."

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